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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29848944">Until The End Of Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedivine_uninspired/pseuds/thedivine_uninspired'>thedivine_uninspired</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bargaining, F/M, Fluff, Mating Bond, Trauma, seriously the fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:15:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,653</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29848944</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedivine_uninspired/pseuds/thedivine_uninspired</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Set right before the end of The Blood Rite and right after.</p><p>“I have to tell you something…” said Gwyn, softly, as she removed most of her weight from her sister.<br/>She took a deep breath and uttered the long-awaited words.</p><p>“Azriel is my mate.”</p><p>In which Gwyn accepts her  mate, and promises him forever.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Azriel/Gwyneth Berdara</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Until The End Of Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Never, in all her years, had Gwyn felt so tired. She wanted so desperately to collapse, and lay there forever. Nevermind that she was inches away from death. Nevermind that she was so close, so close to winning The Blood Rite. Nevermind that Emerie was begging her to get up.</p><p>“Gwyn, <em>please</em>-” she pleaded.</p><p>Gwyn opened her eyes, just a sliver, and she saw, then, the desperation in her friend-her sister’s eyes. She could not disappoint her them. Not when Nesta had sacrificed so much.</p><p>
  <em>Oh gods, Nesta.</em>
</p><p>“Come on Gwyn, we have to move. Look, you can see the summit from here.” </p><p>Gwyn peered over Emerie’s shoulders and sure enough, there it was.</p><p>Her ticket back home.</p><p>Home.</p><p>She didn’t know why (or perhaps she did) Azriel’s face flooded her memory. She wanted to go back to him… </p><p>To her mate.</p><p>As Emerie helped her up the rest of the way, Gwyn let her thoughts wander off to the Spymaster. No matter how hard she tried, she could never banish him from her thoughts. In a way, he was a constant and she had grown to accept it… to appreciate it.</p><p>Gwyn had heard of the mating bond before. For a period of time it was all she and her sister could talk about. After Catrin’s death, and the atrocities she faced at the hands of those cruel males, she couldn’t bring herself to think of it much more. But her connection to Az…it was undeniable, as much as she might have wanted to deny it. She reckons she felt the tug of the bond even all those years before, when he had saved her. But her trauma was so great, she probably hadn’t noticed. But now…</p><p>She wondered if he felt the same. He surely hadn’t shown it, but he was kind to her. More so than he was to the other females he trained. And he was no stranger to trauma, if his scarred hands were any indication.</p><p><em>Gods</em>, she thought, <em>his hands</em>.</p><p>She knew his hands were good in a fight, but what else could they do? </p><p>She felt heat rise from her neck, to her cheeks, to the tips of her pointed ears. <em>Gods, her mind was a filthy place. </em></p><p><em>It’s because of my sisters’ godsdamned romance novels, </em>she thought to herself sourly<em>, they’ve spoiled my innocence.</em></p><p>“Where did you run off to Gwyn?” asked Emerie.</p><p>Gwyn felt herself come back to reality. She was currently being hoisted up a mountain by her friend who was considerably smaller than her, with no help from herself.</p><p>“I have to tell you something…” said Gwyn, softly, as she removed most of her weight from her sister.</p><p>She felt Emerie stiffen at her words. The Illyrian smiled slyly.</p><p>“Are you finally telling me who it is you think of when you keep zoning out?”</p><p>Gwyn scoffed. “I don’t zone out!”</p><p>“You were zoning out not two minutes ago!”</p><p>They stared at each other, blinked, then burst out in pained laughter.</p><p>“Yes, alright. It’s… <em>gods</em>, I can’t believe I’m saying these words out loud but here goes…”</p><p>She took a deep breath and uttered the long-awaited words.</p><p>“Azriel is my mate.”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>Emerie blinked, and blinked again. Then, as if the words had only just registered, her eyes went so wide, Gwyn feared they might escape their sockets.</p><p>“WHAT?!” she all but shouted.</p><p>“Mother above Em, will you keep it down!”</p><p>“But-but-<em>huh</em>? How have I never noticed? I fancy myself a very observant person Gwyn. You should know that my ego is crushed.” she said in mock devastation.</p><p>“Oh shut up, will you? I’m in crisis. I don’t know anything about the mating bond, apart from what I’ve read. And I’m scared shitless.”</p><p>“What’s there to be afraid of?” asked Emerie.</p><p>“What’s there not to be afraid of?” she shot back. “ I told him everything about me Em. Do you know how long it took me before I told you and Nes about my past?”</p><p>Emerie nodded. It was not too long ago, on this very mountain even.</p><p>“It’s strange, but he makes me feel safe. He makes me feel like I can let my guard down around him. He makes me feel like- <em>Mother above</em>- I don’t even know, like I can trust him… with myself… with my heart.”</p><p>“Gods Gwyn, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that. Truly. You deserve the entire world, twice over, and you deserve to love again, to be loved. And if anyone could do a good job of it, it’s Azriel. He’s kind, and selfless, and he understands you, it seems. So from one sister to another-”</p><p>She looks Gwyn dead in the eyes</p><p>“Throw caution to the wind, <em>and go for it.</em>”</p><p>Gwyn stared back as she felt her heart thundering against her chest. She wouldn’t be surprised if it fell right out of her ribcage and onto the unforgiving ground.</p><p>
  <em>What an inconvenience that would be.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>∘☽༓☾∘</p><p> </p><p>Less than half an hour later, they were there. At the summit of Ramiel.</p><p>There, in the center of the small, rocky terrain, stood a behemoth of a monolith. The two women stalked forward until they were scarcely two feet away from the onyx column.</p><p>“Ready, my fellow Valkyrie?” asked Emerie dramatically.</p><p>“Ready as I’ll ever be.” she responded, with equal grandeur.</p><p>With that, the Valkyries lifted their hands, and placed them gently on the stone.</p><p>All they knew now was peace and darkness.</p><p> </p><p>∘☽༓☾∘</p><p> </p><p>The time that Gwyn spent in-between felt like an eternity, and a fraction of a moment, all at the same time.</p><p>She looked around her, into the darkness, and she saw him.</p><p>His hazel eyes, his hair, his scarred hands, his lips…</p><p>
  <em>Gods, she wanted to know what they felt like, against her own, how they tasted…</em>
</p><p>She had decided then, in the darkness of the in-between-</p><p>
  <em>To hell with caution.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>∘☽༓☾∘</p><p> </p><p>She felt herself free-falling for gods know how long before she hit the ground hard. She looked around and realized that she was in the middle of Windhaven, though why she landed here, she couldn’t tell.</p><p>“Motherf-” she heard her friend say, somewhere to her left.</p><p>“That was less than ideal.”</p><p>“You can say that again” she huffed.</p><p>Just then, she sensed a wave of knee-wobbling relief crash onto her, and she could only guess its source. She felt that all too familiar tug, right beneath her left breast, above her heart and turned around.</p><p>There, in the middle of the street, stood Azriel, looking beautiful as ever. Gwyn could’ve sworn that his eyes were silver-lined.</p><p><em>Had he cried</em>, she thought, <em>for me?</em></p><p>“He looks awful.” Emerie affirmed.</p><p>Gwyn shot her a blank look. Although she wouldn’t have used such colorful language, she couldn’t help but agree. His cheeks were slightly hollow, and she could see the shadows dancing under his eyes.</p><p>He’d been worried about her, she realized, she could even feel it.</p><p>She started her route towards him when Emerie stopped.</p><p>“What are you doing?” she asked.</p><p>Em knew exactly what she meant to do, but she wanted Gwyn to spell it out.</p><p>“I’m throwing caution to the wind Em-” she looked back at her friend once more “-and I’m <em>going for it.</em>”</p><p>With that, she made her way over to him… to her mate.</p><p> </p><p>∘☽༓☾∘</p><p> </p><p>It had taken her no longer than a few moments to reach Azriel, and when she did, she felt her heart thundering again.</p><p>“Azriel,” she said, breath shaky “I-”</p><p>Before she could say anything else he engulfed her in his arms. She stood there for a moment, arms slacked along her sides. She wanted to savor the feel of him. Store it in her mental library, full of memories of him, of them, together. After a while, she willed herself to raise her shaky arms, and embrace him. This was without a doubt, the most beautiful moment she had ever experienced. She never wanted to leave his embrace. She never wanted to stop smelling him, sandalwood and wind. She never wanted to stop hearing his heart beat violently under her cheek. If she had to choose a moment to be stuck in for the rest of her days, it would undoubtedly be this one.</p><p>“I worried myself sick, you know.” he murmured against her hair “I couldn’t bring myself to sleep, or eat, or do anything besides worry.”</p><p>Although she didn’t like the idea of him in such a state, her heart warmed at the words.</p><p>“You know, don’t you?” he asked softly “you know that you’re my…”</p><p>She nodded as she pulled herself away from him gently. She looked into his eyes, then, and reckoned she could get lost in them forever. She stood on her tippy toes, because although she was tall for a female, he towered over her, and brushed her lips against his, softly. So softly, in fact, that Azriel thought he was dreaming it, and what a wonderful dream it was. One he never wanted to wake from. His hands moved to grip her waist gently, and he found himself kissing her back. And gods if it wasn’t the most wonderful feeling ever. She was his mate. This strong, beautiful, smart, wonderful female was his mate. He could scarcely believe it. </p><p>“I’m honored Azriel, and if you’ll have me, I want to love you until the end of time.”</p><p>His eyes softened as his heart picked up again, in the safety of his ribcage.</p><p>“Until the end of time?” he asked, sticking his hand out to her.</p><p>A bargain.</p><p>She was smiling now, as she took his hand in hers. The bargain clicked into place and she saw tendrils of ink creeping from his collar and up his neck. She suspected that he saw the same patterns coiling up her own neck.</p><p>She kissed him again.</p><p>
  <em>Until the end of time.</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello hello friends. I forgot to put my note before I posted it because I couldn't wait to post and see your reactions. This is my first ever try at writing fanfiction, and I thought why not post it? Anyway I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know if you'd like more and maybe give me suggestions? I don't think I'm quite ready to start on longer fics, but I quite like the one-shots, so...let me know. Ok, I'll shut up now, have a wonderful day :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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